GS Group presents the first Android-powered TV set-top box to be developed and produced in Russia

GS Group presents the first Android-powered TV set-top box to be developed and produced in Russia

31.01.2018

GS Group has created a new-generation TV set-top box - the first Android™-powered TV set-top box developed and produced in Russia. This new device under the brand General Satellite is a far departure from rank-and-file TV, turning your television into a true multimedia centre offering a wide range of tools and services. The capabilities of the new set-top box are on show at the CSTB. Telecom & Media-2018 exhibition. GS Group is planning to introduce a line of similar devices for Russian telecoms operators in the near future.

GS Group's own Android-powered programming platform gives subscribers access to a great number and variety of non-standard content consumption services, and simplifies the delivery for operators. Extending the functionality of the device is planned through the use of linked peripherals, including a "smart home" module which turns the TV set-up-box into a hub to manage your home. The programming platform permits the swift integration and launch of already existing third-party apps and services for additional monetization of an operator's subscriber base.

The digital television set-top box is built based on the most up-to-date products and technologies. GS Group offers a solution based on their own innovative developments: a SiP (System in Package) microprocessor, that combines in one casing a modern quad-core processor from the world's leading manufacturers and a number of active elements, including a coprocessor developed by the group. The inbuilt DRM-system, also devised by the GS Group, ensures maximum data protection against unauthorised access and meets the highest security requirements set by content providers. In addition, GS Group can provide comprehensive solutions based on other programming products which may be preferential for some operators, focused on their current requirements for digital TV set-top boxes.

The new TV set-top boxes are equipped with two tuners, thanks to which the user may view high quality video content on two channels simultaneously. One tuner transmits content to the TV screen, while the second transmits to a second TV screen, or a mobile device or gaming console. The inbuilt wifi module with MiMo technology ensures reliable wire-free connection of the TV set-top box to the domestic network and the Internet. The Android-powered digital TV set-top box can be used as an access point and connect mobile devices to it to manage tools and services. The set-top box has a user interface which is easy to use and customise and offers subscribers the full range of inbuilt tools for digital TV: an electronic programme guide (EPG), teletext, subtitles, timer, memory function and games. The broad range and high-speed of the operator's tools is achieved by the optimal combination of DDR-memory and two 8GB blocks of eMMC Flash memory. One of these is dedicated to implementing the operators non-linear services: PushVOD, PVR, pause, rewind, TimeShift and more. The second block is for additional proprietary and third party tools and apps.

«Today, many TV operators are developing and striving to offer their subscribers the most up-to-date services, not just TV services. It is for them that we have created this product. Bearing in mind that the market is continually expanding and there is ever-increasing demand for solutions that have been devised and made in Russia, we are convinced that our solution will be sought after by many of the actively expanding operators who are following the modern trends in telecoms». – Andrey Bezrukov, Director for Strategic Projects and Communications, GS Group.

Production of the set-top box is scheduled to start in 2018. The entire technological chain - from development to packaging - will unfold at the innovation cluster Technopolis GS (the investment project of the GS Group in Gusev, Kaliningrad oblast). So the new device will be the first Android-powered TV set-top box to be fully developed and manufactured domestically. The localisation of the entire production cycle in Russia guarantees that the security, reliability and quality of the product will be on a par with world technological developments. Retaining leadership in the sphere of development and production of solutions for digital TV, the GS Group can offer telecoms-operators a comprehensive product which meets modern world trends.